by Patricia Earley

Can you even believe that it is a new year?  2009.  There is something refreshing and invigorating about a new year, isn’t it?  Is it that we so desperately want to feel like we have a new chance or do we want to end some things from the previous year?  While I am all for that fresh breath of the new year, sometimes we really need to take a moment to reflect back to the previous year.  If you are like me, there were both good and bad moments, some things I wish I had done, and a few I wish I hadn’t.  But what about our marriages?  Are there some things that we wish we could have done differently?  Of course there are.  There may have been words said in anger or missed opportunities to encourage one another.  We all know that our husbands aren’t perfect – and neither are we.  But at times I am so good at taking some of the things that my husband says and hold them in my heart – especially the things that hurt me.  Those hurts start to spill over into what I say or how I respond. If I were to continue in that path, it would be just what the enemy wants; division, contempt, and disrespect.

I would never suggest that negative words should be brushed aside, but we have to be careful to release those hurts and fears to God and let Him renew and refresh us daily so that our hearts don’t grow cold.  There is a scripture that has become one of my favorites and it is found in 2 Samuel 22:21 in the Message translation: God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I cleaned up my act, he gave me a fresh start. Indeed, I’ve kept alert to God’s ways; I haven’t taken God for granted. Every day I review the ways he works, I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I’m watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

Isn’t that awesome? God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.  He took the hurt, the secrets, and the quiet anger when I opened up my heart to Him.  Can you imagine God taking those things that caused so much pain and rewriting them so that we could live through the pain, and yet maybe help someone else who might be experiencing the same type of pain.

This year as we look back and start anew, let’s start with getting rid of the old “junk” and let God rewrite our hearts the way that He designed them.  Then, we can truly take our marriages to where God wants them to be – in His hands and for His design.

Posted under Marriage